San Juan County's COVID cases fall 35.2%; New Mexico cases plummet 20.8%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read

FARMINGTON – New Mexico reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 2,942 new cases. That's down 20.8% from the previous week's tally of 3,714 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

New Mexico ranked 31st among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.

San Juan County reported 186 cases and four deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 287 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 46,932 cases and 823 deaths.

Across New Mexico, cases fell in 22 counties, with the best declines in Bernalillo County, with 758 cases from 1,039 a week earlier; in McKinley County, with 144 cases from 292; and in Doña Ana County, with 229 cases from 347.

In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.54% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Chaves County with 571 cases per 100,000 per week; De Baca County with 343; and Hidalgo County with 286. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 758 cases; Chaves County, with 369 cases; and Doña Ana County, with 229. Weekly case counts rose in 10 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Chaves, Colfax and Hidalgo counties.

In New Mexico, 70 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 52 people were reported dead.

A total of 612,146 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,469 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 212

  • The week before that: 177

  • Four weeks ago: 387

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 63,337

  • The week before that: 64,048

  • Four weeks ago: 71,125

Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan County reported 186 additional COVID-19 cases last week